Freedomland
by sat-anpu
Summary: I don’t know what the meaning of life is, but I do know it is not to be enclosed inside a glass cage. -starring Red XIII and others; one-shot; summary inside


Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII nor any of its characters(Red XIII, Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barret, Hojo and Jenova). All of these rightfully belong to Square Enix. I claimeth no ownership.

Summary: Basically a "retelling" of a famous scene in FFVII, when Cloud, Tifa, etc. meet Red XIII in the Shinra HQ building. This is all told by Red XIII, in first person. Dialog and order of events may have been changed a little to bit to suit my liking.

Author's Note: Please read and review. No flames allowed; only constructive criticism. Granted, I don't remember everything that happened in FFVII. The first time I played through the game I found the storyline a bit confusing(which is why I am playing it through a second time, but of course, college will ruin my playing time :S) so everything that's in my story might not be correct, even though I am trying to make it fit with the original scene.

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Freedomland

I don't know what the meaning of life is, but I do know it is not to be enclosed inside a glass cage. For so long, I was only familiar with an ugly face staring at me across from the other side, his breathing fogging up this glass "cell" he put me in. Every once in a while he would take his glasses off and wipe them with the bottom of his white lab coat, muttering incoherent words.

Choosing to ignore him was my way. But he never stopped calling me his "precious specimen." I didn't know what I was going to be used for. All I knew was that this experiment was going to be unpredictable and have consequences. I just waited and obeyed. Before my imprisonment for whatever reason I was given an ornate tattoo on my front right limb, and more on my back legs. I remember the scientist saying to one of the attendants that the tattoo was used to identify which beast I was.

Hojo kept an array of mutated creatures, taking monsters from all over the Planet and concocting various experiments among them. Or worse….They were, of course, toys to him. The man seemed sane when talking to him, an educated intellectual interested in forwarding the sciences. That couldn't be farther from the truth.

He was careless, mad and hardwired. There were things I had known about him that most others _didn't_ at the time, dangerous secrets that should never be spoken in the light of man. Not too far from my cell was a….something, I'm not quite sure how to explain it. All I knew was that it was something that Hojo called "Jenova." I never actually saw this Jenova, but Hojo talked to it like it was a newborn child. He cradled this Jenova with his words, speaking them almost silently.

I pretended not to listen to his rigorous speech, instead, focusing on a way to perhaps escape. But such a feat was impossible. I had almost absolutely no way of getting out. Or maybe, I just told myself I didn't have the strength because I felt like I had no where to go. I was a coward, like my father Seto. I didn't want to become like him but I knew I was him. I started believing it.

One day, something amazing happened though. Hojo had left the lab, leaving me alone in my glass cell. I was oblivious, merely resting in what limited space I had. I found three humans wandering in and out around the lab, looking at the equipment. I knew they were up to no good, but I said nothing. There really wasn't that much to say so I simply watched. One of them was a woman. She kept rubbing her hand up against the glass, saying the words of "precious specimen." I'm sure she was quite surprised by my presence, having never seen a creature like me. I wouldn't blame her though. I always felt like I was the last of my people.

I met with her eyes through the glass, a quick glance. Then I went back to minding my own business. Immediately she ran over to one of her friends, a spiky haired human who reminded me of…SOLDIER. He was lying down on the ground in apparent agony, his hands clasping his head. I wondered if he had some type of pain, hearing something in his mind. Sometimes, I heard something in my mind too, but I didn't know what to ever think of it. The spiky haired human had paid attention to the Jenova, looking _into_ it. Of course, this was before he fell onto the floor.

Soon they left, moving to the upper floor. I'm assuming they were going to see Hojo. I don't know why _anyone_ would want to see Hojo. He just repeats and repeats the same experiments every day. People make him impatient, which is why he prefers isolation in his lab up high in the Shinra Headquarters building then being down somewhere in what's left of human society. If Hojo wanted to be the last person on the Planet he would do so by staying up in the Shinra building away from the disasters of the outside world.

My day only got more interesting when I found myself being raised on a platform into the upper level of the lab. This time, I found the glass cell occupied as the platform situated itself below me. Inside the cell was a human woman. She was pushing her back against the glass, molding her form against the thick wall. For a human, she was beautiful. But to her, I was a dangerous annoyance. Then I knew that Hojo was going to use her for an experiment. I could not accept this, so I pretended to play along.

The three humans had come running in, appearing around the glass cell with both me and the pink dressed woman inside it. The woman called for help. I moved forward, herding her in one corner of the glass cell. I hated to frighten her, because I didn't know who she was or what she was doing here. The spiky haired human's name must have been Cloud. At least, that's what the pink dressed woman called him. Both the gun man and the white shirted woman came following behind. The man who had a gun for his arm was muscular and had a sharp expression. A conversation between Cloud and Hojo followed. I listened for once. I dreaded the day that I would listen to Hojo.

"I am helping an endangered species," he said, pushing his glasses higher up onto his nose. He acted as if the intrusion was no big deal. "Both of them are nearly extinct."

I meditated on the meaning of those words. But then the answer was obvious…this pink dressed woman was obviously no ordinary human. I don't know what type of human she was but her eyes were a rich green. They reminded me of the universe and the heavens, they reminded me of the Planet, and they reminded me of the Lifestream.

"If I don't _help_, these marvelous creatures will die out," Hojo continued. What could he possibly mean? I wasn't sure. Now I was scared but didn't show it. Shortly after, I caught the meaning of Hojo's last sentence. I was enraged as he had tried forcing us, placing us in a glass cell, thinking that we would create a hybrid. I would allow no such thing but I bided my time by pretending. Soon the time would come…

The celled woman was named Aerith. She was no animal like me but still, I couldn't quite figure out what made her unique. I had no more time to think as the gun man began firing bullets at the glass cell. I fell to the ground, stopped the fake pursuing and hoped the bullets wouldn't come right through me. I would have protected the girl but the gun man continued shooting. It all stopped as the glass cell began to light up into a vibrant white. I was practically blinded, calming myself not to panic. I heard Hojo almost screaming, banging against the glass and yelling "my precious specimens!"

My body stayed put, disorientated from the violent flashing of the vibrant light. I began swaying and I quickly tried regaining some energy. Then, there was a turn to my events. The glass cell door had opened in the blink of an eye. I took no chances.

I leapt out of the cell, pouncing on Hojo. Despite him being skinny he wrestled quite well, trying to throw me off his body. It was no use. I was more powerful in muscular strength. I heard the running of soft shoes against the metal floor, the soft steps of the unique woman who was Aerith. Good, she was out of the glass cell just as I was.

I paid little attention to the four humans, giving into my animalistic desire of tearing him apart. As usual, I faked it. Hojo was at my mercy. I don't know why I gave mercy to this pathetic scientist after all the horrible things he had done. But then I figured, if I killed him or mutilated him, I would be no better than him, wouldn't I? My weakness of delving into deep thought showed as Hojo escaped from my clutches. He tried kicking me but I dodged, only moving backwards not even a body length. He seemed disappointed.

"Hhm, you certainly are no ordinary specimen. Indeed, I am surprised you are quite ferocious!" He gave a rather wicked smile. He still lye on the ground where I had tackled him. No matter how clumsy Hojo made himself look he was never nervous in such a daring situation. I turned around, ignoring him. I decided it was time to speak to this rather odd bunch of humans.

"I will help you since this man is strong." The white shirted girl put her hand to her mouth, easily in awe. I loved amusing human beings by speaking.

"He talked?" the white shirted girl asked, to no one in particular. She wasn't afraid to speak what was on her mind. I was getting to know her better and better every minute.

"I will talk as much as you want later, but right now…." We had little time. If I was going to make my escape with these four strangers, I had to do it now. But Cloud insisted that he would take care of the monster. I didn't know what he meant by "monster" but the worst of my fears pointed to this Jenova that Hojo loved so much.

I was happy to know that the white shirted girl's name was Tifa. Cloud ordered her to take Aerith and run. I was more interested in seeing Tifa fight. Of course, she and Aerith were gone quickly, disappearing from the lab. Cloud stared at me amidst this growing chaos and asked a rather interesting question. "What is your name?"

Funny, no one ever asked me that before. I had all but forgotten my true name. I can't even remember the name that Hojo gave me. I didn't want to stall anymore though. I didn't want to act like I was stupid, like I had lost my intelligence while sitting in a glass cell.

"Hojo named me Red XIII. This name has no meaning whatsoever to me. Frankly, I don't care what you call me." So from then on I was called Red XIII. That name didn't sit with me well, despite what I had told Cloud earlier. I wanted to remember my true name but it never came to me.

We later fought with the Jenova. It was my first time ever seeing the monster outside of its…thing. It was not an easy battle but Cloud managed to finish it off. The burly gun man was named Barret I later found out. He was powerful, letting loose bullet after bullet after bullet until we slaughtered the Jenova. I felt like I was little help but we soon prevailed.

After the fight, Tifa and Aerith returned to the lab. Thank god, they were unharmed. I wouldn't want to mess with either of those women.

Barret loved asking questions, as I later learned. He simply asked me "what are you?" I wanted to laugh because it was such a silly question. I would have answered "well, I am a monster." But I wasn't a monster, at least, I think these four humans didn't _think_ I was a monster.

"I really don't know, but that is a very interesting question. I am what you see. I can be whoever you want me to be. But in the end, I am only me." I turned my head back towards Cloud. Questions would have to wait later.

"We must go now. We have little time so I will lead." Aeris and Tifa once again left the main group, insisting that they would be fine. Of course they would be okay. I didn't doubt their strengths.

I was no longer a prisoner, no longer an experiment and no longer a specimen. I was just being me and me only. The journey into our future would be a difficult one, lined with catastrophes, misfortune and worse…We would be faced with the death of someone we knew and loved, sacrificing herself for the Planet.

But that's another story, another future. At that time, I wanted to focus on getting out of the damned Shinra building.

I wanted to focus on my Freedomland.


End file.
